Educator Awards Luncheon
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23rd Annual Jewish Educator Awards Luncheon Luxe Hotel Sunset Blvd • Los Angeles • December 13, 2012 WELCOME Dr. Gil Graff Executive Director BJE NATIONAL AnTHEMS Cantor Nathan Lam Stephen S. Wise Temple GREETIngS MILKEN FAMILY FOUNDATION David Siegel Consul General of Israel in Los Angeles Jewish REMARKS Richard Sandler Executive Vice President Educator Milken Family Foundation Awards HAMOTZI Rabbi Sholom Tendler Mesitva Birkas Yitzchok LUNCH BIRKAT HAMAZON Rabbi Aharon Wilk Maimonides Academy VIDEO PRESENTATION PRESENTATION OF AwARDS Richard Sandler Luxe Hotel Sunset Blvd • December 13, 2012 Sponsored by the Milken Family Foundation in cooperation with BJE, a beneficiary agency of The Jewish Federation MESSAGE FROM THE Milken Family Foundation There are two lasting bequests we can give our children: One is roots, the other wings. — H. Carter A quality Jewish day school education nourishes the roots of a strong Jewish identity, implanting core values and fertile learning while endowing youth with the wings to fly, test their limits and build a future that honors the past. This complex and critical task is dependent upon outstanding educators. Surely, we must honor and recognize the most talented among the fine BJE teachers, administrators and specialists in nearly 40 schools. By surprising four exceptional educators with their Jewish Educator Awards before entire school communities, we proclaim very publicly that excellence in education should be rewarded. In recognizing the essential contributions that educators make to our society, we hope to encourage our next generation to consider the adventure of teaching. This connection is further reinforced through the JEA Student Essay Contest, open to middle and high school students at BJE-affiliated schools. As we seek to attract, retain and motivate greater numbers of high-caliber individuals to pursue Jewish day school education as a profession, it is imperative that we provide them with opportunities and incentives for their work to flourish. Those we honor today— Mary Itri, Rabbi Usher Klein, Rabbi Baruch Kupfer and Lidia Turner—are role models deserving of emulation for their intelligence, scholarship, creativity and compassion. We are truly blessed by such educators, who ground our youth with the requisite knowledge and skills for success, while instilling the ethics and values that will allow them to soar. Lowell Milken Richard Sandler Chairman and Co-Founder Executive Vice President 2 MESSAGE FROM BJE: Builders of Jewish Education This year’s Milken Family Foundation Jewish Educator Awards are presented during the week of Hanukkah. The holiday celebrates a victory that, eventually, restored Judaean sovereignty more than 2,000 years ago. Though military success was a significant part of the story, Jewish tradition emphasizes spiritual renewal—the rededication of the Temple—as the focus of the celebratory holiday. The rabbis chose a passage from Zechariah exalting the spirit, over might and power, as the prophetic selection to be read on the Shabbat of Hanukkah. Educators nurture the enduring spirit of learning, enabling generations of students to take their place as thinking, inquisitive, contributing members of the communities of which they are a part. Those who teach at Jewish schools link their students to the Jewish people and its values, across time and place. How fitting to recognize excellence in education at this time of year. The year 2012 marks 75 years since BJE was established. In 1937, it served 12 affiliated schools: five Hebrew Schools, three (Yiddish) Folk Shulen; three Workmen’s Circle Schools and one Child Care Center; there were no Jewish day schools in Los Angeles. Today, 39 BJE-affiliated day schools educate more than 9,500 students, grades K–12. The Milken Family Foundation has been a longstanding leader in making Jewish educational opportunity available to children and families and in strengthening and recognizing excellence in education. BJE is appreciative of the partnership of the Milken Family Foundation in advancing its mission of encouraging participation, enhancing quality and promoting access to Jewish education. We honor and thank Mary Itri, Rabbi Usher Klein, Rabbi Baruch Kupfer and Lidia Turner, who brighten the lives and spirits of generations of students through their commitment to excellence in education. Sincerely, Donna S. Nadel Gil Graff, Ph.D. President, BJE Executive Director, BJE 3 Jewish Educator Awards The Milken Family Foundation, in partnership with BJE, established the Jewish Educator Awards (JEA) in 1990 as an adjunct to the Milken Educator Awards. Each fall, four unsuspecting educators in BJE-affiliated schools are surprised before their entire school communities with individual unrestricted Jewish Educator Awards of $15,000 each. Honorees reflect the highest ideals of Jewish and secular education, fostering the lifelong pursuit of knowledge and nurturing a value system that can guide students through adulthood. Recipients also demonstrate an outstanding ability to develop Jewish children’s understanding of the connections among their religion, classroom activities and lives outside of school. Goals Outstanding educators who continue to learn are essential to foster student growth, improve schools and enhance the education profession. Hence, the goals of the Jewish Educator Awards are: • To honor and reward outstanding Jewish • To increase public awareness of day school educators for the quality the importance of their role in the of their teaching, their professional community and in society. leadership, their engagement with families and the community, and their • To encourage able, caring and creative potential for even greater contributions people to choose the challenge, service to the healthy development of children. and adventure of education as a career. • To increase public support and recognition for Jewish day school educators who make outstanding contributions to the development of their students. 4 Selection • Strong long-range potential for even greater contributions to children, Award recipients are selected by a committee the profession and society. of educators—both professional and lay leaders from the Jewish community—who have a long- • Distinguished achievement in developing standing concern for and involvement with innovative educational curricula, programs education in Jewish schools. and/or teaching methods. To be eligible for consideration, educators • Outstanding ability to instill character and must teach a minimum of 15 hours per self-confidence in students. week at the K–12 level. They must have been teaching for a minimum of seven years in a • Outstanding ability to develop Jewish BJE-affiliated school. children’s understanding of the connections among their religion, their classroom activities, Criteria considered for the selection of Jewish and their activities beyond the classroom. Educator Award recipients include: • Commitment to professional development • Exceptional educational talent and promise, and excellence, and the continuing Judaic as demonstrated by outstanding practices in and/or secular study necessary for it. the classroom, school and community. • Personal involvement in responding to the • Evidence of originality, dedication and needs of the Jewish and secular communities. capacity for leadership and self-direction. Criteria for administrators also include an • Commitment to influencing policies that outstanding ability to attract, support and affect children, their families and schools. motivate committed education professionals. 5 Mary Itri General Studies Teacher, Grade 5 Director, Spring Musical, Grades 4–6 Stephen S. Wise Temple Elementary School Creative in her roles as both a fifth-grade general studies teacher and as impresario of the annual Spring Musical, Mary Itri has sparked a love for learning in generations of students. Mrs. Itri’s acting background in stage and film informs her favorite role as teacher. She integrates the Meisner Method of Acting into her classroom management and instruction— particularly those principles for reading behavior and being in the moment—to address individual student learning styles and enhance the curriculum. She has served as a grade- level chairperson and mentored both DeLeT Fellows and student teachers. Colleagues look to her as a leader and role model. Passionate about the potential of the performing arts to inspire students to higher levels of achievement, Mrs. Itri directs the annual Spring Musical. This tradition is widely recognized for its extraordinary professionalism. From spending her summer breaks selecting and adapting the play to collaborating with colleagues and building community partners who help ensure a successful outcome, Mrs. Itri is the driving force behind the entire production. The experience is a hands-on learning opportunity, carefully designed to reinforce Judaic values as it builds student self-confidence and skill in oral presentations. Thanks to Mrs. Itri, the musical has had a major impact on students who seek a form of personal expression that is different from playing a sport, but which offers the satisfaction and growth that comes with being part of a team mentality. 6 Rabbi Usher Klein Ninth-Grade Rebbe Mesivta Birkas Yitzchok As the iconic ninth-grade yeshiva rebbe, Rabbi Usher Klein spent seven years at YULA, where he solidified an Advanced Gemara track before co-founding Mesivta Birkas Yitzchok in 2006. For incoming students, the opportunity to anchor a high school career with Rabbi Klein